Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh’s overall imports grew by 12.24 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (FY), thanks to a jump by nearly 65 per cent increase in import of capital machinery, officials said.
The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) rose to US$26.55 billion during the July-January period of FY 2016-17 from $23.65 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank statistics.
On the other hand, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, rose by 12.32 per cent to $ 27.46 billion in the first seven months of FY 17 from $24.45 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Talking to BBN, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said the overall imports increased during the period mainly due to higher import of capital machinery and intermediate goods.
He also said the upward trend of importing capital machinery may continue in the coming months for implementation of the ongoing different infrastructure development projects across the country.
Currently, the government is implementing nine projects under a Fast Track Project Monitoring Committee, headed by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for quick implementation.
Import of capital machinery or industrial equipment used for productions rose to $3.22 billion in the seven months to January of this fiscal year against $1.95 billion of the same period of FY 16.
The BB official also said higher import for textile, leather, jute, garment, pharmaceutical, ship building and energy and power sectors contributed to raise the overall capital machinery imports.
On the other hand, import of intermediate goods, like - coal, hard coke, clinker and scrap vessels, increased by nearly 14.27 per cent to $2.20 billion in the first seven months of this fiscal from $1.92 billion in the same period of the FY 16.
Industrial raw materials import grew by 4.69 per cent to $9.53 billion during the period under review from $9.11 billion in the same period of the FY 16.
During the period, the import of machinery for miscellaneous industries witnessed a 9.37 per cent growth to $2.76 billion from $2.52 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
However, import of petroleum products dropped by 12.51 per cent to $1.39 billion during the July-January period of FY 17 from $1.59 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal.
Import of consumer goods increased by 5.10 per cent to $2.90 billion during the first seven months of this fiscal from $2.76 billion in the same period of the FY 16, the BB data showed.
Food-grain imports, particularly of rice and wheat, dropped by more than 15 per cent to $642.83 million during the period of the FY 17 from $760.69 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.
BBN/SSR/AD